Threatening a Dead Woman

After leaving the exhibition, Julian went straight to the hospital to visit his precious little sister.

On our earlier trips, I had sat in the back with him.

This time I took the front passenger seat.

My disgust for that liar had reached the point where another look at his false face might make me sick.

As we reached the hospital room, Pearl’s agonized shrieks came through the door.

“Mom, having my stomach pumped was horrible. Miles did it on purpose. He wouldn’t leave until he watched me swallow the medicine.”

Vivian soothed her tenderly.

“My poor baby. You’ve suffered so much. Here, have some soup.”

She blew on a spoonful and held it to Pearl’s mouth.

Then she cursed bitterly.

“This is all Stella’s fault. Of all the people she could provoke, she had to choose Lucian Blackwood. Now my daughter’s paying for it.”

I had become completely immune to her habit of blaming me for everything.

“Enough,” Richard said, sounding almost human for once. “Stella’s worked like a dog for the company all these years. When she comes back, be a little nicer. Say something pleasant.”

Pearl pouted.

“Dad, isn’t she basically the family dog? If we hadn’t been kind enough to adopt her, would she have any of this? Whatever she does for us, she owes us. Why should we have to please her?”

“If you and your brother were any use, would I have to flatter an orphan?” Richard snapped. “She controls company secrets and resources we still need. Until we’re finished with her, you’ll put on a convincing act.”

Pearl hadn’t been quite accurate.

A dog’s position in that family would have been much better than mine.

Unfortunately for them, I wasn’t coming back to enjoy their performance.

Richard turned to Julian.

“I told you to message Stella and coax her home. Have you?”

Julian couldn’t let his father know he had murdered me.

“No.”

He showed Richard the unanswered messages and more than a dozen calls that hadn’t connected.

He looked utterly helpless.

“She won’t pick up. She won’t answer my texts. It looks as if she’s determined to make me suffer this time.”

“How dare she?”

Richard was furious.

He condescended to call me himself.

I saw the name he had saved me under.

Little Bastard.

“The number you are calling is currently unavailable…”

That made him angrier.

“She thinks she’s grown beyond us. Now she won’t even take my calls?”

He sent me a furious voice message.

“Stella Whitmore. If you’re not back by next Monday, don’t ever come back. I’ll have Julian divorce you immediately.”

I could only sneer.

He didn’t know he was threatening a dead woman.

The reason he was so impatient was that next Monday, the Duchess of Talworth would fly into Fairhaven on her private jet to discuss our international partnership with me personally.

Two weeks earlier, she had sent a formal letter specifying that I was to oversee the entire collaboration.

If we closed the deal, it would be Whitmore Group’s largest project in three years. It would also receive government support.

The company’s market value could double again.

I had fought hard for that opportunity.

Vivian took the chance to whisper a suggestion into Richard’s ear.

“Darling, we don’t even know where that little bitch has got to. Why not give Julian this opportunity? Pearl could help him. Let people see what she can do.”

Her enthusiasm grew as she spoke.

“She’s far more likable than Stella. The duchess might even prefer her. And Pearl studied economics at Cambridge. Once they secure the deal, Julian can replace Stella as CEO, and Pearl can take her rightful place on the board.”

Unlike Vivian, Richard wasn’t blinded by pride in his children.

He knew exactly what both of them were capable of.